Bus bomb scare shuts down 82nd Ave. of Roses for hours

What do you do when a TriMet bus passenger says he’s going to blow up the bus? You’ll get the story, and exclusive photos, right here …

Until the bomb squad carefully searched this TriMet bus, we were allowed to observe only from a great distance.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It wasn’t a breakdown that delayed passengers riding the TriMet bus on Route 72, headed to Clackamas Town Center, on August 23rd at about 4:45 p.m.

Their ride was stopped cold by the threat of a bomb on board.

The incident began when passenger on the bus heard another passenger say something about blowing up the bus.

SE 82nd Avenue of Roses was shut down for nearly two hours while the EDU squad checked this bus for explosives.

When he learned that, the bus driver immediately pulled to the curb on SE 82nd Avenue of Roses at SE Flavel Street, and evacuated the bus. Patrol cars from two police precincts and a Transit Police unit raced to the scene.

The Explosive Disposal Unit soon arrived, but after carefully searching the bus, found no bombs on board.

Police say this man, Ryan Nau, was
responsible for the bomb scare.

Authorities said that 43-year-old Ryan Nau, charged with one count of Disorderly Conduct in the incident, has a history of “severe mental problems.”

A TriMet supervisor on-scene told us, “Something like this is an inconvenience to everyone, but we’ll never take a chance with the public’s safety.”